3 way lighting

[Janet Alexander]

I'm replacing the lighting switches in one room and two switches control the overhead lights. I replaced one switch with a 3 way dimmer and the other with a regular on/off 3 way switch. The dimmer switch works but the other switch only works if the dimmer is on. If the dimmer is off the other switch won't turn the light on. What did I do wrong??

[joed]

You got the common wire on one or both of your new 3ways. Can you put the old switched back and make it work properly? If you do it and then change only one switch at a time. It is easy to troubleshoot one switch. Get the one working then install the 2nd switch.

[Janet Alexander]

I replaced the dimmer switch first and it worked properly........ then the other switch. Both have common wires. I put all the wiring together just the way it was on the old switches. I'll try and see how the old switch works tomorrow and trouble shoot. Thanks!

[John Nelson]

just the way it was on the old switches
The problem may lie in the algorithm you used to determine that it was "just the way".

[Janet Alexander]

Okay, I think I messed up when I put in the new dimmer. The old dimmer has a black and red wire coming out of one side of the switch and those were attached to the two black wires from the box. On the other side of the dimer was a black wire and it was attached to the white wire coming out of the box.
The new dimmer has two red wires on one side and a black wire on the other. I attached the two red wires to the black ones in the box and the black one to the white one in the box.
Does this sound right or did I mess up?

[John Nelson]

Well, clearly the new dimmer is not connected as the old one was.

The old dimmer has a black and red wire coming out of one side of the switch and those were attached to the two black wires from the box.
Those "two black wires" are not interchangeable. It is essential that you know which black wire was connected to the black wire from the dimmer, and which to the red. Do you know?

The new dimmer has two red wires on one side and a black wire on the other. I attached the two red wires to the black ones in the box and the black one to the white one in the box.
This is clearly wrong. The black wire from the new dimmer must be connected to whichever wire was connected to the red wire on the old dimmer.

[Janet Alexander]

Obviously I thought I hooked it up the same way but I didn't. I don't remember which went where. If I trouble shoot will anything happen?

[Janet Alexander]

I have it all hooked up right and it's working properly! Thanks for all your help!